Friday, 28 June 2013

Some history: The ‘’Battle Corps’’ line was a catchall theme that ran from 1993 to 1994. It was created by Hasbro in an attempt to organize all the GI Joe figures that did not fit into other sub-lines. It consisted of a few repaints from previous years, new versions of previous figures as well as all-new characters. Unfortunately, GI Joe and Cobra had arrived in the ‘90s and brought their neon colored slacks with them. It is one of the most reviled periods in the history of GI Joe. Most fans agree that unfortunate color choices on the part of Hasbro detracted from otherwise solid sculpting and character choices.By 1995, Hasbro was pitching a ‘’return to basics’’ approach. Their proposed ‘’Battle Corps Rangers’’ line would have brought back popular characters in more subdued and realistic military outfits and gear. Unfortunately, the damage was done and GI Joe went on hiatus until 1997.

Every day during the month of July, I will be posting a new Battle Corps related custom. Or, more accurately, I will be posting customs related to the 1992-1995 era of GI Joe. This will include a few DEF (Drug Elimination Force), Battle Corps Rangers and other sub-lines, but the vast majority of the customs will be Battle Corps. So, check back here often to see new stuff.

Thursday, 27 June 2013

Only 4 days to go before the 1st of July. What is so special about the month of July? Well, it is a time to take in the summer heat and sun, lounge by the pool and enjoy vacation. This year, it will be all those things, but it will also be a month long celebration of GI Joe here at the blog.

I have a bunch of new customs to premiere during the month. I will be posting more details tomorrow and the event will start on Monday.

Monday, 24 June 2013

Friday, 14 June 2013

Well, this is it. This is the result of about 5 years of planning and slowly buying train cars.

A little background. At the very start of ARAH 1982-83, Tyco put out a GI Joe HO-Scale electric train set (Pic is from Yojoe.com)

I drooled over this set for a long time. I already had an electric train, so I didn't ask my parents for another. Instead, I played with the one I had and added some green army men and accessories and pretended that it was a GI Joe train. I even played with my regular ARAH figures even if the train was wayyy to small.

When I got back into Joes (2005ish), I discovered that in 1991, Hasbro was thinking of releasing this (again, thanks to Yojoe for the pic)

It never made it to store shelves, but when I found out about it, it reawakened my childhood memories.

About 5 years ago, I decided that it was time to finally make the train that I always wanted for my Joes. I looked into different scales of trains that I could buy and modify. One day, I bought a Playmobil box car on super clearance for 5$. When I stood ME Joes next to it, it looked good, so I set out to buy all the cars and the engine and paint them. After a few false starts and waiting for the latest Playmo train to arrive, here it is: My GI Joe train!